The Arab World League Middle East North Africa Economy Foreign Trade

Middle East Business Economy - Institutions - Maghreb

Summary:
MENA Region. League of the Arab States Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen

The Arab world today is a rich composite of many and diverse influences. Various ethnic, linguistic and religious groups inhabit the region. Yet, Islam and the Arabic language constitute its two predominant cultural features. The Arab people, spread over a vast area, enjoy common bonds of history and tradition. Members of twenty-one different countries, the Arabs consider themselves to be part of one nation (Ummah). The Arab people are further united through their membership and participation in the League of Arab States.

Agriculture is the primary economic activity in the Arab world. The most important food crops are wheat, barley, rice, maize and millet. These are largely consumed within the region, while cotton, sugarcane, sugar beets and sesame are exported as cash crops.

Contrary to popular belief, only a few Arab countries possess petroleum and natural gas resources. Other natural resources include iron-ore, lead, phosphate, cobalt and manganese.

Saudi Arabia is the strongest Arab economy according to World Bank. Saudi Arabia remains the top Arab economy in terms of total GDP. It is Asia's eleventh largest economy, followed by Egypt and Algeria, which were also the second and third largest economies in Africa (after South Africa), in 2006. In terms of GDP per capita, Qatar is the richest developing country in the world.

The Arab League, also called League of the Arab States, is a regional organization of Arab States in the Middle East and North Africa. It was formed in Cairo on March 22, 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan (Jordan), Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a member on 5 May 1945.

It currently has 22 members: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

The Arab League is involved in political, economic, cultural, and social programs designed to promote the interests of member states.

The Arab League is rich in resources, with enormous Oil and Natural Gas resources; it also has great fertile lands in South of the Sudan, usually referred to as the food basket of the Arab World. The region's instability has not affected its tourism industry that is considered the fastest growing industry in the region, with Egypt, UAE, Lebanon, Tunisia and Jordan leading the way. Another industry that is growing steadily in the Arab League is telecommunications. Within less than a decade, local companies such as Orascom and Etisalat have managed to compete internationally.

Economic achievements initiated by the League amongst member states have been less impressive than those achieved by other smaller Arab organizations such as the GCC. However, several promising major economic projects are set to be completed soon. Among them are the Arab Gas Pipeline, scheduled to be finished by the year 2010, which will connect Egyptian and Iraqi Gas to Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, and also to Turkey (and, therefore, Europe), as well as a free trade Agreement (GAFTA) stated for completion by the 1st of January 2008, making 95% of all Arab products free of Customs.

MENA REGION (Middle East and North Africa)
The term refers collectively to the Asian countries of Bahrain, Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Palestine (the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip and West Bank), Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and the North African countries of Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia.

The MENA region has vast reserves of petroleum and natural gas that make it a vital source of global economic stability. According to the Oil and Gas Journal (January 1, 2007), the MENA region has 70% of the world's oil reserves (797.04 billion barrels) and 46% of the world's natural gas reserves (2.8413 quadrilion cubic feet).

Arabs use the Arabic language in writing and reading. Farsi, the language of Iran, and Urdu, the language of Pakistan and some parts of India, are written in the Arabic script. The influence of Arabic has been most important in Islamic countries. Arabic is a major source of vocabulary for languages such as Sindhi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Berber, Kurdish, Pashto, Persian, Swahili, Urdu, Hindustani, Turkish, Cypriot Greek, Malay, Rohingya, Bengali, Tagalog, and Indonesian.

Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E. (Orascom Telecom) is a leading international telecommunications company operating GSM networks in high growth markets in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, having a total population under license of approximately 498 million with an average mobile telephony penetration of approximately 48% as of March 31st, 2009.

Etisalat stands 140th among the Financial Times Top 500 Corporations in the world in terms of market capitalization, and is ranked by The Middle East magazine as the 6th largest company in the Middle East in terms of capitalization and revenues. The Corporation is the largest contributor outside the oil sector to development programmes of the UAE Federal Government, and is an award-winning socially responsible corporation. Etisalat has also won accolades from across the region for its nationalization programme.

Sample:

Master in Business with Muslims countries -  Master in Asia business

Language:

Arab League, Middle East, North Africa, Economy, MENA Region, Foreign Trade, Arab States, Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen